Seamus Heaney. Photo: IC

 

Seamus Heaney, one of the world's best-known poets and winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in literature, died on Friday after a short illness at the age of 74, his family said.

The Northern Ireland-born Heaney's poems evoke an Irish country childhood, with images of potato diggers and peat bog cutters, and echo the deep political splits that have riven the island.

His works include the 1966 debut Death of a Naturalist, The Spirit Level, District and Circle and an acclaimed translation of the old English epic poem Beowulf.

"The poet and Nobel Laureate died in hospital in Dublin this morning after a short illness," said a statement on behalf of the Heaney family.

Heaney was a rarity among poets, having won acclaim from critics while producing bestsellers. Born on a farm in Mossbawn, County Londonderry in Northern Ireland in 1939, his poems nostalgically recall the sights and smells of a country childhood.

Reuters